The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Tuesday

Markets are digesting statements by Wall Street wizard Warren Buffett. This morning, Buffett said that interest rates have been a "powerful factor" in aiding the Dow Jones and other markets to record highs. Buffett also seemed to dismiss concerns about high valuations and said that price-to-earnings ratios made sense given the low interest rate environment. The statement came on the same day that his firm Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) bought a stake in truck stop and travel center giant Pilot Flying J.

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On Monday, economic reports indicated that U.S. manufacturing levels hit a 13-year high even in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. But the real action will take place on Capitol Hill. Today, Equifax Inc.'s (NYSE: EFX) CEO will face the first of three days of grilling from Congress over its massive security breach that affected nearly half of all Americans. Yesterday, the credit-reporting giant announced that another 2.5 million Americans may have been affected by the recent cyber breach that led to the retirement of the company's CEO. Of course, another 2.5 million is just a blip compared to the other 143 million consumers who have been affected by this breach. Expect Congress to shame the CEO.

Automotive stocks are in focus after manufacturers report monthly sales throughout the day. Analysts are keeping a close eye on these numbers to determine whether vehicle purchasing increased in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. This morning, shares of General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) added another 1.3% thanks to a stock upgrade from Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB).

Gun stocks are back in focus Tuesday. Shares of American Outdoor Brands Corp. (Nasdaq: AOBC) and Sturm Ruger & Co. (NYSE: RGR) are rising again as investors anticipate that gun manufacturers could face increased regulations in the wake of Sunday's tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas. New details are emerging that the shooter had utilized "bumper stocks" to augment the shooting capacity of semi-automatic rifles to make them shoot with speed of an automatic weapon. It was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history and has produced an outcry of demands for more background checks and limitations on weapons purchases.

Crude oil prices continued to dip Tuesday as traders take profits off the table after an incredibly strong third quarter for Brent producers. Reports indicate that demand may slide in the fourth quarter due to macroeconomic factors. Meanwhile, Turkey has not followed through on its threats to the Kurdistan region of Iraq, a factor that has shaved off the geopolitical premium that added to prices last week. The WTI crude oil price today dipped 0.3%. Brent crude fell 0.3%.

Five Stocks to Watch Today: LEN, FB, TSLA, PAYX, AZZ

Shares of Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) are on the move after the housing company topped earnings expectations this morning. Wall Street analysts anticipated earnings per share (EPS) of $1.01 on top of $3.219 billion in revenue. Lennar Corp. instead reported EPS of $1.06 on top of $3.261 billion in revenue.

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Social media giant Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) is facing scrutiny on Tuesday after CNBC reported that 10 million views saw political advertisements purchased by Russian influencers of the 2016 election. The company turned over at least 3,000 advertisements to Congress that it believes are linked to Russian content farms. Shares of FB stock were up 0.13% in pre-market hours.

It will be a tough day for Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. This morning, Musk's firm announced that deliveries for the Model 3 came in lower than expected. The firm said that it continues to face "production bottlenecks," which is impacting its ability to get deliveries out on time. Last quarter, the company produced more than 25,000 vehicles; however, just 260 were the highly anticipated Model 3 vehicles.

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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Today's Markets

DJIA829.16(3.15%)27,110.98

NASDAQ198.27(2.06%)9,814.08

S&P81.58(2.62%)3,193.93

BRK.A13042.00(4.53%)300920.00

AOBC1.03(9.55%)11.82

EFX0.44(0.25%)177.01

GM1.45(4.97%)30.61

DB0.20(2.11%)9.69

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